


From You to Me

by kakotheres



Series: Just Write! Fluff Bingo 2019 [14]
Category: Glee
Genre: Fluff, Gifts, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 07:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20305342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakotheres/pseuds/kakotheres
Summary: Someone is leaving Sebastian secret gifts.





	From You to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Just Write! Discord server, Fluff Bingo 2019.  
Prompt: Gifts

It all started on a Tuesday. Sebastian had thrown his coat on, preparing to make his way out into the cold bite of winter in NYC. As he was patting down the pockets, double-checking that he had his keys and his phone, his hands brushed across a shape that shouldn’t be there. Sticking his hands into the deep pockets, he felt his fingers clasp a small, thin object about the size of a credit card. Pulling it out, he saw that it was a gift card from one of his favorite coffee shops near NYU’s campus. But the gift card wasn’t his. He flipped it over, but there was nothing on the card to indicate who it had come from. He definitely didn’t buy it. And it seemed a bit strange for it to have accidentally fallen into his coat pocket somehow. In the end, he simply tucked into his wallet with a shrug of his shoulders. A bit of luck, perhaps. But he was running late – no time to think about the mystery if he wanted to get to class on time.

Still, he wondered about it for the rest of the day. Sometimes he’d pull it out of his wallet and look at it, just to prove that he hadn’t imagined it. It wouldn’t be that hard for someone to stick it in his jacket. As entertaining as the concept of a skilled reverse pickpocket dropping the card in his jacket as they crossed paths in Central Park was to imagine, it was also…incredibly unlikely. The mystery gift giver really wouldn’t have had to work that hard. Sebastian often left his jacket with his stuff at the coffee shop or in the library. And when he did that, he would sometimes wander away from it for long periods of time.

So, there would’ve been plenty of chances for someone to put the gift card into his jacket pocket without him ever knowing about it. And finding out what was his favorite coffee shop wouldn’t be hard, even for someone who didn’t know him that well. As a second-year law student, Sebastian spent most of his time either in class, in one of NYU’s libraries, or at one coffee shop close to the law school. It didn’t have to come from a close friend. But regardless, it brought a smile to his face. Knowing that someone had thought of him, and put care and attention into getting something that he’d appreciate was…

Well, it was nice.

*****

On Thursday, it was a small brown box sitting on his desk, a red bow tied around it. Inside the box was a beautiful black pen with silver detailing. Sebastian had picked it up, turning it over and over in his hands, running his fingers down the sleek sides. The pen was one of his favorite brands and styles. This, this was a bit harder to explain away. Not that many people had access to his apartment. He’d been sharing the two-bedroom place with Kurt since April of last year after the other boy’s rooming situation had fallen apart on him. Occasionally, Kurt would have Elliott and Dani or some of his friends from work over. Sebastian enjoyed spending time with all of them, but he wouldn’t consider them close friends. Sebastian rarely brought people over himself. When his friends got together, it was typically somewhere else because Sebastian liked keeping his home to himself. Having people in his space made him itch. Although somehow Kurt seemed to be the exception – Sebastian often found the other boy frustrating and irritating and completely maddening, but he never regretted letting him move in.

Once upon a time, he might have thought that somehow a one-night stand had found a way to get access to his apartment. He’d certainly hooked up with some crazy ones, back in the day. He wouldn’t put something like this past some of them. That was one of the reasons that he had rarely let them know where he lived. At this point in his life, however, he had mostly left his days of one-night stands behind. He didn’t need the distraction anymore. He had found friends that liked him and work that kept him engaged. He still picked up guys from the clubs from time to time, and he certainly didn’t turn down a good party, but hooking up wasn’t the driving need that it once was. And this gift was so personal. Someone would have to know him fairly well to know how much of a pen snob he could be. Finding the right one, one whose ink flowed in perfect sync with the way that his hand moved. One that fits well into the crook of his hand, weighted so that he wasn’t fatigued holding it and writing all day. Those were intimate details that didn’t typically come up after a night of dancing under strobe lights.

Sebastian settled himself down at his desk, notebook in front of him and pen in hand. When Kurt let himself in a few hours later, Sebastian looked up to see a soft smile on his face.

“Good rehearsal?” he asked, twirling the pen between his fingers. Kurt looked tired but pleased. Sebastian was going to have to harass him into taking a day off sometimes soon. Kurt tended to work himself into the ground, and Sebastian had taken it onto himself to try to keep him from burning out. Providing care in his own special way, which usually involved a lot of pouting and insults to get Kurt to agree with his great plans.

“Not bad,” Kurt said quietly. “Could’ve been better, but we’ve definitely had worse. It’s good to be home.”

*****

On Saturday, Sebastian found a copy of the latest release from one of his favorite authors sitting on the coffee table. There was a note stuck in the pages of the book with the words ‘To Bas’ written in unfamiliar, shaky block lettering. Sebastian picked the book up, turning it over in his hands as his mind wandered. The gift card had been impersonal enough that it hadn’t set off any particular flags in his mind. Anyone could have left it in his jacket, and while it was incredibly thoughtful, it didn’t indicate that the giver had any special relationship to him.

The pen was a bit harder to explain. While many of Sebastian’s law school friends had been forced to listen to him rage about the annoyance of an inferior pen, he couldn’t imagine any of them gifting him with one. No, more likely his friends would collect some shitty cheap pens and pile them on his desk as a prank. Which, to be fair, would’ve been kind of funny. But to get him that pen, which he kept on him at all times now, and to leave it in the apartment…well, that was different. He had been surprised that Kurt hadn’t grilled him that much about it but chalked it up to his roommate being in an incredibly distracted mood over the past few weeks.

But this? This was strange. The book itself, maybe not so much – Sebastian had a huge collection of books. The walls of the apartment were covered in dark brown bookshelves. He didn’t limit himself to any particular genre, with everything from philosophy tomes to Russian literature to a few cozy mysteries that he swore were given as gag gifts. Anyone who knew him would know that books were a great gift, and he wasn’t shy in his appreciation for this author. All of that seemed reasonable enough, aside from the confusion about it being left in his apartment.

No, what was strange was the note. ‘To Bas’. Very few people called him that. The guys he played lacrosse with casually on the weekends called him Smythe. His friends mostly called him Sebastian, or Seb if they really felt like shortening it. Bas always felt…intimate. In fact, the only person who consistently referred to him that way was…

Kurt.

Kurt didn’t call him Bas all the time. Only around the apartment, never in public. Rarely in front of their friends. And the last time he’d called him that in front of Elliott, the other’s brows had risen straight up into the air. Sebastian had never thought much of it. It was just one of those quirks of Kurt, and Sebastian let him get away with it. Sebastian let Kurt get away with a lot of things that he would kill anyone else for doing. He made Sebastian feel comfortable and sharing an apartment with him was warm and pleasant. No one else had fit into Sebastian’s life so smoothly. From the start, Kurt had settled into the apartment like nothing Sebastian could’ve predicted. They squabbled and antagonized each other, and there were certainly days when he could strangle Kurt if he had to hear one more comment about textile patterns. But at the end of the day, no part of him regretted the relationship that he and Kurt had built.

So yes, they’re roommates. And they’re definitely friends. But this? This seems like something different, something more, something that Sebastian’s not quite sure if he’s ready to name yet.

*****

By the time Monday rolled around, the mystery was driving Sebastian nuts. After the book, Sebastian had started to watch his roommate more closely, but Kurt didn’t give him any hints. He had simply nodded along sympathetically when Sebastian had complained about not knowing who had given him the pen. Sebastian didn’t show the book to him, and Kurt never mentioned it. He didn’t ask Sebastian if anything strange had happened or if anything was out of place in the apartment. Nothing to indicate that he wanted to know how his gift had been received. It was possible that Kurt wasn’t actually the one behind everything. Sebastian doubted that, though. No one else would’ve had quite the same access, nor would anyone else know him quite that well. Especially considering the note.

But even if he knew that Kurt was the person behind the gifts, it also didn’t explain _why._ Was he trying to apologize for something? Sebastian couldn’t imagine why he would be. Besides, if Kurt was trying to apologize then he definitely would’ve been acting differently. Kurt could never hide it when he was worried that someone was mad at him. Yet as far as Sebastian could tell, there was nothing different about how he was behaving. Certainly, he couldn’t see anything in how Kurt interacted with him that would give a clue for why he would be giving Sebastian gifts. Kurt continued fussing at him about not eating enough and harassing him about his terrible taste in clothes. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Sebastian knew he was ignoring one obvious explanation if the gift giver really was Kurt. It wasn’t insane to think that Kurt might be trying to express something, something about his feelings. Feelings toward Sebastian. But Sebastian couldn’t let that train of thought run, because if he let himself think about that, if he examined how such a possibility made him feel…it left him open for things he wasn’t sure he wanted to face yet. Denial and avoidance were completely healthy ways of dealing with emotions, thank you very much. He could almost hear Kurt’s voice in his head, chiding him for shutting down and brushing off his own feelings. But sometimes it was the only way he knew how to process. And he couldn’t face those possibilities yet. Because at this point, it was all in his head. Maybe Kurt had just decided that giving out personalized gifts was going to be his good deed for the month.

He’d been completely distracted all the way through class this afternoon. Originally, he’d planned on heading to the library to get some studying done before heading home. However, he’d scrapped that plan about the time he realized that instead of taking notes about contract law he was writing Kurt’s name over and over again in his notebook. So instead, he headed back to his apartment. Maybe he could just take a nap or watch a movie. Take the evening off, for a change.

As he opened the apartment door, he could hear the faint sounds Kurt’s singing coming from inside. He walked in the door and kicked off his shoes, letting the sound of Kurt’s voice wash over him. Kurt was sitting on the couch in the living room with his back to the door. He was focused on something sitting on the coffee table in front of him. Curious, Sebastian walked over, dumbing his backpack on the floor as he went. Let Kurt grump at him for it later – right now he wanted to know what the other boy was absorbed with. He hadn’t expected Kurt to be home since his schedule was inhumanly busy.

“What’cha got there, Kurt?” Sebastian said as he came around the couch, plopping down next to Kurt and pushing gently at him with his shoulder.

Kurt smiled at him. “Hey, Bas. Didn’t expect you home so soon.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t focus. What’s in the box?” Sebastian leaned over, pushing into Kurt’s personal space to examine the package that was sitting on the table in front of them.

“How should I know? It’s addressed to you!” Kurt said with a laugh. “And unlike _some_ people, I don’t snoop.”

Sebastian snorted. “Sure, whatever you say. Remember your birthday last year? I had to hide your present with one of my lacrosse buddies to make sure you wouldn’t find it!”

“Well, you were the asshole who kept dropping hints about it and teasing me with it!” Kurt shoved Sebastian. “What was I supposed to do.”

“Don’t blame your lack of willpower on me,” Sebastian said, flicking Kurt on the shoulder. “What do you mean it was addressed to me? I didn’t order anything.”

Kurt shrugged at him. “Guess you’re just going to have to open it and find out.” He sat back in the couch with a smug smile on his face, arms crossed over his chest.

With a huff, Sebastian got off the couch and fetched a pair of scissors from his desk. Kurt’s fabric scissors were sitting right there on the coffee table in front of him, but he knew better than to use those. He’d only made that mistake once – never use the fabric scissors to cut anything but fabric, unless you wanted to grovel for a week and end up buying Kurt four new pairs that all apparently served different functions. It was a good thing he liked his roommate so much. He might have had to kill him otherwise.

Settling back in on the couch, Sebastian made quick work of removing the clear tape from the box and pulling out a few sheets of crumpled packing paper. Reaching in, he pulled out a thick glass cylinder filled with pale wax. A candle.

“There should be another one in there,” Kurt said quietly beside him. He shuffled in his seat, rubbing a hand against the back of his head.

Sebastian raised a brow at him. “Thought you didn’t know what was in here.”

Kurt’s answering smile was…complicated. There was a gentle affection there, but also something worried and tight that made Sebastian’s heart clench in his chest. He didn’t say anything, and Sebastian’s chest got tighter.

Sebastian put the one candle down on the coffee table in front of him, and then reached into the box for the second. Tossing the empty cardboard onto the floor, he turned the candle over in his hands. He could smell hints of coffee and butter, a combination that immediately brought to mind memories of sitting in cafes in Paris a lifetime ago, before everything in his life changed with a move to the States. He lifted the candle to his face, breathing in deeply. On a deeper inhale, he could detect hints of tobacco and warm bread. It was like a visceral punch to the gut. For a moment, he just sat there turning the candle over in his hands, letting memories of another life flood through his mind.

Eventually, he leaned forward and placed the candle on the coffee table next to the other one. The two were a matched set, their labels declaring that the candles held the essence of France within. They’d certainly hit that nail on the head. He was still feeling a little shaky from the intense emotions that the candle had evoked in him. The onslaught of feelings left him reeling. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the feeling of the couch underneath him and the warmth of the body sitting next to him ground him to the present.

Sebastian turned Kurt, trying to get a read on how he was feeling. If he knew how much this gift had affected Sebastian. Kurt was watching him with steady eyes, but his fingers worrying at a loose thread in the couch cushion belied his concern. He looked like he was balanced on the edge of a knife. Stuck between staying and fleeing back to his room, like one harsh word from Sebastian would break him into a thousand tiny pieces. The Sebastian that Kurt had first met, fresh from the heartbreak of being ripped from his home and dumped in a boarding school in the middle of nowhere, would have cut into Kurt with a biting remark. If only for the pleasure of watching him fall apart, knowing that someone else was feeling as broken as he was.

But things change. And Sebastian was no longer that boy.

“You’ve been giving me all those gifts this week?” Sebastian asked softly. “The pen, the card?”

Kurt nodded. “Everything. I was going to leave the box on the coffee table and head out for the evening, but you got here earlier than I was expecting. So, I stayed.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I guess I just…I wanted you to know.” Kurt bit his lip between his teeth. “When you caught me with the box, I figured the jig was up and I might as well come clean.”

“No, I meant…well, that makes sense. That you wouldn’t be able to keep it to yourself for long.” Sebastian smiled softly, nudging Kurt with his knee, trying to lighten the mood. “You never were that good at keeping secrets from me.”

“Only because you’re such a pain in the ass,” Kurt laughed softly. “You pout when I don’t tell you things.” Sebastian looked at him, pulling the corners of his mouth down and opening his eyes wide. Kurt let out a huff. “Yes, exactly like that, you brat.”

“You didn’t actually answer my question. Not, why did you finally tell me it was you.” Sebastian paused. “I meant, why did you give me everything in the first place?”

Kurt looked down at his hands, which he had folded in his lap, fingers clenched tightly together. He turned so that he was facing Sebastian directly, pulling one leg up underneath himself and hunching his shoulders. “Same answer, really. I wanted you to know.”

Well, that cleared up exactly nothing. Sebastian turned to face Kurt, mirroring him on the couch. “Wanted me to know what? C’mon, Kurt. It’s like pulling teeth here. Just…talk to me.” He could hear the plea in his own voice, the desperation to hear Kurt say it.

“I’ve…I’ve been falling for you, Sebastian. For a long time.”

Silence sat heavily between them. Sebastian found himself stuck, words fleeing from his mind as soon as he tried to grasp them. This both was and wasn’t what he had expected. He had focused on the idea that Kurt was trying to apologize with the gifts. The thought that they could’ve been a sign of…affection, of care…he hadn’t allowed that to cross his mind for very long. He couldn’t let himself think that way because thinking that way led nowhere good. Kurt was his roommate, and one of his closest friends. Sebastian was self-aware enough to know that he didn’t mesh well with a lot of people. His relationship with Kurt was one of the healthiest ones he’d ever managed, and he didn’t want to destroy that with hope. He hadn’t even acknowledged to himself that it would be hope. Better to squash any possibility of Kurt’s being romantically interested in him than to dream about it and find out that Kurt didn’t see him that way.

And his firm control on his own thoughts and feelings had left him to be blindsided by this. Because Kurt Hummel wasn’t one who ever listened to Sebastian’s carefully laid plans and logical rationalizations. Kurt Hummel didn’t play by the rules that Sebastian set.

He must have stayed silent for too long because Kurt began to babble and backtrack. “I know I’ve probably just made everything incredibly complicated. And I probably shouldn’t have rocked the boat or anything. But I can’t help it, Sebastian. Even though you’re impossible and you leave your stupid bag on the floor all the time and I trip over it in the morning and your taste in clothes sucks-”

“Hey!” Sebastian objected weakly.

“-but for some reason none of that matters,” Kurt continued without pause. “Because yes, you drive me crazy. But also, you make me smile and laugh and you don’t let me take myself too seriously and you’re always there when I need support. And, I mean, you know you’re insanely hot. And that part’s kind of annoying, but also I love that you’re so confident.”

“Kurt,” Sebastian tried to interrupt.

“Bas, please. Just let me get through this, okay?” He took a deep breath. “I figured, since this crush didn’t seem to be going away and instead you just seem to be becoming more and more essential in my life, that…it was time I said something. We’ve been roommates for almost a year – the lease is up soon. So, if me telling you all this ruins everything, well…at least the logistics could be worse? I can find my own place if you can’t stand living here with me, if I make you uncomfortable in any way. And I’m really sorry if I do-”

“KURT,” Sebastian shouted. Kurt froze, blinking at Sebastian and swallowing sharply. “Kurt,” Sebastian continued more softly. “It’s okay.” He reached over and took Kurt’s hands in his, letting his thumbs run reassuringly over Kurt’s knuckles. “Just, stop talking about moving out. That’s not something that needs to be on the table, alright? First, you tell me that you like me, then you talk about moving out? Is a relationship with me that terrifying of a concept? Geez, a man could end up with a complex that way,” Sebastian joked.

“Bas, be serious,” Kurt said, but his lips were twitching as he fought a grin and his eyes sparkled with hidden mirth.

“Ok, I can be serious,” Sebastian said. He paused, inhaling deeply and breathing out. He let his eyes drift to the candles sitting on the coffee table. He had spent so many evenings on this very couch, talking to Kurt about everything he missed from Paris. Reminiscing about cafes and fine wine. About tiny hidden streets and deep friendships. About being fractured inside, when he’d had to leave. He hadn’t opened up about those things to many people.

But Kurt seemed to always be his exception. “You’re not the only one, you know.”

“The only one who what?” Kurt squeezed Sebastian’s hands.

“Who feels something here.” Sebastian squared his shoulders. “I don’t know if I can actually be in a relationship. I haven’t exactly tried that hard to be in one, up until now. I’m probably going to absolutely suck at it, and I’m going to need you to help me figure it out. And to be patient with me. We both know each other well enough to know that we come with baggage. But I want to try. With you.” Sebastian lifted up one of his hands to Kurt’s face, letting it rest cupping his cheek.

“Yeah?” Kurt asked softly.

“Yeah,” Sebastian responded. They were quiet for a few moments, looking into each other’s eyes. Eventually, Sebastian broke the silence. “Thanks, by the way. For all the gifts.” He let his fingers trace a sharp cheekbone.

“You’re welcome,” Kurt said. Sebastian could feel his smile beneath his hand. “I hope you like them. I tried to put a lot of thought into it all – you’re not the easiest person to buy for sometimes.”

“They were perfect,” Sebastian said. “Though…the note? I know your handwriting, and that wasn’t it.”

Kurt laughed. “I wrote it with my left hand. You’re lucky it was remotely legible.”

Sebastian chuckled. “That explains it.” He paused. “Kurt?” he asked, leaning forward into Kurt’s space.

“Yeah?” Kurt’s voice was coming out a little breathlessly as Sebastian moved his face closer and closer, stopping his lips a few inches from Kurt’s mouth. Sebastian’s eyes traced the path of Kurt’s tongue as it darted out to wet his bottom lip.

“Can I kiss you?” He paused, waiting for an answer. From the moment that he had been sure of where this conversation was headed, he had known that he wouldn’t be another boy who kissed Kurt without his permission. He was going to do this right. They both came with baggage but maybe that was why it might have a chance.

“Yes.”

Sebastian moved forward, letting his other hand come up to rest on the other side of Kurt’s face and pressing their lips together in a deep kiss. “You know,” Sebastian said when they eventually pulled apart. “there’s one lingering question that still remains.”

Kurt raised a brow at him, pulling back as far as Sebastian’s grip around his back would allow so that he could look Sebastian in the eye. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?” He asked, the suspicion clear in his voice. Damn, he knew Sebastian too well.

Sebastian cocked his head to the side, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. “I’ve gotten quite used to you getting me presents.”

“Uh-huh,” Kurt said, already glaring at Sebastian. “Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that I’m not going to approve of what comes out of your mouth next?”

“You know you love my mouth. So, what’re you going to get me for Valentine’s Day? I’ve had my eye on this new rugby shirt…”

The rest of his comment was lost as Kurt tackled him to the couch and proceeded to kiss him whenever he started to continue his snarky commentary. Oh, this was going to add a whole new level of fun to teasing Kurt. He couldn’t wait.


End file.
